There’s something in the Kool Aid at the Australian FIS World Cup athlete camps this winter and I want in. At last count mid season, we had won nine golds, two silvers and five bronze across SBX, aerials, moguls and ski slope style plus two golds and a bronze in Para World Cups with a year to go until the Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics in Korea. Not bad for a country of surfers.
Plus three Australians, all women, currently hold the coveted ‘yellow bib’ (number one in the world) mid season. Danielle Scott for aerials, Britt Cox for moguls and Belle Brockhoff for SBX. The Australian females are rocking it with eight of the nine gold, both silvers and one of the bronze tally as it currently stands.
Clearly we have some serious contenders for Olympic podiums this time next year.
Danielle Scott in aerials kicked off her season winning both silver and gold in the opening event in China, then went on to win silver at Lake Placid. Scott also won bronze in the team event in China with David Morris and Samantha Wells.
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Olympic gold and bronze aerial medalist, Lydia Lassila, cemented her comeback after a three year hiatus by winning gold at her second World Cup event of this season at Deer Valley this week just gone.
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Proving that consistent hard work pays off, Britt Cox, is having an epic season in moguls. She has stood on the podium five out of six times in the World Cup season with four golds (Ruka Finland, Lake Placid USA, Val St Come Canada, Deer Valley USA) and one bronze (Deer Valley USA).
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Her team mate, Matt Graham, also scored gold alongside Britt at the Calgary Val St Come World Cup and their training mate, Brodie Summers, scored his first World Cup podium with bronze at Deer Valley in the dual moguls this weekend.
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Meanwhile across the pond in Europe, Belle Brockhoff won her second gold of her SBX season so far and donning that yellow bib as a result. Former World Champion, Alex Chumpy Pullin, won bronze in Montafon, Austria.
“Feels good to win another race this season. I’m really happy with my progress so far and I still have alot to work on” said Brockhoff online from Bulgaria.
“I am thinking about the Olympics, I’m currently working with Oxess on putting together my quiver for the games and am really excited on the development of my boards and how they feel. Apart from that I am just taking one race at a time and having a ton of fun doing it. Afterall, theres no place I would rather be than on my snowboard!”
Russ Henshaw is back on the circuit heading into Korea. He placed third at the Seiser Alm World Cup in Italy the same day that Scotty James won gold at the Aspen X Games in Super Pipe.
Let’s not stop there either.
Mitch Gourley won the Para Alpine Super Combined World Championship in Tarvisio and Joany Badenhorst won gold at the World Para Snowboard World Cups in Lake Tahoe and bronze at the Para Snowboarding Championships at Big White.
Special Olympics Australia athlete and DWA member, Craig Muhlbock also claimed bronze in the X Games Special Olympics Unified Snowboarding Parallel Slalom in Aspen, Colorado with his unified partner, two-time Australian Olympic snowboarder and X Games champion, Scotty James.
We still have chances at the aerials, moguls and snowboard test events (double as World Cup events) in Korea next week and the ski cross and boarder cross this week in Europe.
Expect another seven weeks of nail biting competition as our athletes compete for crystal globes, podium placement and Olympic hope.
FEATURE IMAGE: Instagram.com/mattgraham_moguls
